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A cold winter night in 672TR, prince Miginath had a bad dream... In this dream he was approached by the Lord of the Pitch Shadows, who told him that he could get all the power and pleasures he could dream of, if he just killed three people who loved him with a pure heart. When he woke up he was freezing, and all wet from sweat, but the thing that really scared him was that he had a vague notion that he had made an agreement with Naveh in his dream.
Some time later Miginath met Lesel of Harabor for the first time. She was a stunningly beautiful seventeen year old daughter of a local merchant, but she was also the mistress of one of Miginath's best friends, the guard captain sir Bardas Krasir. At first, he tried to put it aside, but the memory of Lesel's smile and her eyes --- at the same time showing innocence, and a rare kind of sofistication --- gave him no rest.
Finally, he decided that his privilege --- as the heir of the kingdom --- was more important than the fact that sir Bardas (who, by the way, was engaged to another woman) had met his girl first. He rode out to find sir Bardas, followed by his medicus, Kantras of Mesirva, who always went with him, due to his sudden seizures. He found sir Bardas, and asked Kantras to stay behind, so that he could talk privately with the captain.
He had found him on the road, about a league from Olokand, so they went in among the trees of the forest to get some privacy. Miginath went directly to the point, and demanded that sir Bardas would end his affair with Lesel of Harabor, so that the prince could have her as a lover on his own. Sir Bardas refused, telling Miginath, that this was much more than an `affair' for him, and that he had taken steps to break up his engagement and marry Lesel, regardless of what his father thought about it.
Miginath was furious, and yelled at sir Bardas, telling him that he would see to it that he was sent to the southern border to fight the Pagaelin, if he didn't obey. Sir Bardas just turned his back towards the prince, and began to walk back to the road. In his rage Miginath picked up a rock and threw it at Bardas. It hit him in his left temple, and he fell dead to the ground.
All the yelling had caused the medicus to rush into the forest, since he feared that the prince was about to get another seizure, and he saw how Miginath killed the captain. Then Miginath killed the medicus more or less by accident. He pushed him, and Kantras fell really badly, hitting a sharp stone with his head.
The prince got his girl, and he managed to push away the thought that she was a gift from Naveh, for having killed two people who loved him. Still, he was much more careful in controlling his temper after that...
After a year, Lesel gave him a son, Maldan, but since Lesel was of common birth, he couldn't marry her, and he choose not to officially acknowledge Maldan as his son yet. Two years later, in 675TR, Lesel died, as she gave birth to Miginath's second son, Koris.
Early in the spring of 696TR, Miginath --- now king --- accidentally cuts one of his closest friends, sir Rochas Perl, with a broken bottle during one of his seizures. The cut is not severe, but it gets infected, and sir Rochas eventually dies from gangrene caused by it.
Shortly thereafter, Miginath meets a Chybisan knight --- Erila Kaphin. He falls in love with her, and the fact that he has finally met a noble woman that he feels so attracted to, really pleases him. A wedding is planned, and Erila gets pregnant very soon. Miginath is really happy to get a legitimate heir.
One night, about a month before the wedding, the king wakes up in the middle of the night due to a noise somewhere in the bedroom. He sees a big, black cat at the foot of his bed. The cat looks at him with glowing eyes and seems to grow. Gradually, it is transformed into a man in a black cloak, with a pale face shadowed by a hood, but still with glowing eyes. Suddenly, the figure speaks:
---You have served us well, killing three men who loved you. As soon as you have produced an heir to the throne of Kaldor, the Lord of the Pitch Shadows will call you to your new home. There you will meet your true friends...
Terrified that Naveh will have him dead and brought to his kingdom of death, Miginath struggles to find a way to outwit the Master of Deceit. The next day Miginath secretly spreads out a rumour that Erila Kaphin is the illegitimate daughter of Miginath's father, Torastra, and the wedding is canceled. Erila, surprised over Miginath's lack of efforts to deny the rumour, is very puzzled, but Miginath never explains his actions. This causes a strain on their relationship, since Erila suspects that Miginath intentionally stopped the wedding.
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